By Orin DavidsonFeb. 19th, 2009
Compared to all the other West Indies Cricket Board blunders over
the years, the latest fiasco in Antigua would win a unanimous decision
in the levels of condemnation that erupted in its aftermath.

Almost every West Indian with an avenue to air his
feelings, thinks it is time the Julian Hunte administration excuse
itself of the perpetrators who caused the abandoned second Test
at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The problem is that no one knows for sure who is
specifically culpable for making a mockery of the preparation for
the latest abandoned fixture between West Indies and England.

West
Indies Cricket Board President Julian Hunte during a visit to
New York.

There is a WICB President in Julian Hunte, who took
it upon himself to apologize for a situation that developed despite
the existence of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and also a Chief
Operations Officer.

They are all part of a fully staffed Board which
is obviously too top-heavy for the type efficiency required of a
professional sports body.

It is even more ludicrous that the President who
heads the Board, does so in a volunteering capacity, as opposed
to that of CEO which is a paid full time occupation.

In addition there are 16 directors, along with a
vice president, who happen to be the core of the Board operations
because they make almost every conceivable cricket and non cricket
decision.

Such a bizarre arrangement is a recipe for accountability
malfunction, which is probably the crux of the problem bedeviling
West Indies cricket.

It therefore begs the question of the necessity
of having a WICB President when there is a CEO who has a fully staffed
office, ranging from marketing and communication managers to janitors.
Likewise there is no need in entrusting all decision making to a
Board, especially one of the WICB’s size.

More so, when the President’s job seems to
amount to noting much more than showing his face at every conceivable
cricket function at all corners of the Globe.

Even a recent impromptu meeting in New York between
the little known United States of America Cricket Association and
Haroon Lorgat, the International Cricket Council (ICC) CEO, which
had zero relevance to West Indies cricket, did not escape the WICB’s
president’s presence.

Whatever benefits are realized from his globetrotting
trips is anybody’s guess, but what is certain us that West
Indies is going backwards and needs to change its structure to reach
any level of real development.

No serious sports organization would have a CEO and a President,
who traverses the cricket world all the time, and who has the luxury
of an office in his home island, outside of the organization’s
headquarters, that happened to the subject of a funding controversy.

West Indians frequently use the United States as
a model to aspire to and if cricket fans look closely they would
learn that the key to the country’s sports success lies in
the structure of its ruling bodies. In the NBA, NFL and MLB, a single
official heads those bodies. He happens to be the Commissioner who
is accountable for every decision made, is employed full time and
hires whatever staff he needs to run the show. Also, the buck stops
at his feet every time.

West Indies cricket could do with that type of professional
administration.

Also, fans need to hear more from the people who
put West Indies Cricket on the map - the ex-players who have been
far too quiet while the sport has been crumbling before their sorrowful
eyes over the years. They need to vent their feelings with public
calls for change to the dysfunctional WICB.

No first ball duck could’ve humiliated Sir
Vivian Richards more than the shambolic work done to prepare the
stadium that bears his name, on Friday.

Beginning with those ex players on the WICB, those
closest to positions of authority, fans need to hear from Clive
Lloyd, Deryck Murray and Joel Garner first, about their agony and
desire to right the wrongs in the administration.

These players, Sir Vivian and all the other stars
of yesteryear, need to shed all sentimental feelings and voice their
resentment, regardless of whatever egos are hurt in the process.

The game made them what
they are today and they have a responsibility to help create an
environment similar to the one they enjoyed, to develop the aspiring
West Indies world beaters of the future.